Music

Musical works of diverse origin and style were performed and composed during the Nazi period. The Nazi Party itself made widespread use of music at rallies and public events, particularly marching music and rousing propaganda songs. In many of the ghettos and camps that were established across Nazi-occupied Europe between 1933 and 1945, prisoners created and performed a wide range of new and existing music, particularly songs. Jewish inmates in the ghettos often wrote new Yiddish songs based on well-known melodies.

Highlighted Composition

Nome
Artista
Categoria
Durata

Sur l'aile de la liberté
Par les cités et les compagnes.
Nos pas, nos coeurs sont emportés
Au loin de nos cheres compagnes,
Mais on les reverra,
L'heure H arrivera

Car nous sauvons la France
Nous les amis, nous les amis,
Car nous sauvons la France
Nous les amis
Du maquis.

On the wings of Freedom
By the cities and the countryside
Our feet, our hearts are carried
Far away by our dear friends
But we see them again
Zero hour arrives

Because we are saving France
Us friends
of the Maquis.

Au jardin d’Angleterre, les bobards ont fleuri.
Tous les menteurs du monde parlent à la BBC.
Au gre de ces ondes, qu’il fait bon mentir

In the garden of England, deception has flourished.
All the liars of the world speak on the BBC.
As the radio waves welcome it, they tell good lies.

Testi

1940.
Il giorno del mio compleanno
I tedeschi entrarono a piedi in Olanda
I tedeschi invasero l'Ungheria
Ero in seconda elementare
Avevo un insegnante
Un uomo molto alto, la sua testa era completamente ingessata
Disse: "I corvi neri...
I corvi neri hanno invaso il nostro paese molti anni fa".
E indicò proprio me
Niente più scuola
Devi andare via
E lei disse: "Presto, vai!".
E lui disse: "Non respirare".
Nei carri bestiame
E per quattro giorni e quattro notti
E poi attraversammo...

Tradotto con www.DeepL.com/Translator (versione gratuita)

L'idea del pezzo viene dalla mia infanzia. [A causa del divorzio dei miei genitori, dal 1939 al 1942 ho viaggiato spesso in treno tra New York e Los Angeles. [...] Se all'epoca questi viaggi erano eccitanti e romantici, ora mi guardo indietro e penso che, se fossi stato in Europa in quel periodo, come ebreo avrei dovuto viaggiare su treni molto diversi. Con questo pensiero, ho voluto realizzare un'opera che riflettesse accuratamente l'intera situazione.

Tradotto con www.DeepL.com/Translator (versione gratuita)

Moes, moes is courtesy of Traditional Crossroads (www.traditionalcrossroads.com).
Recorded: Kampo, New York, USA
ISBN: CD 4297
Accession Number: CD213
Singing is Adrienne Cooper accompanied by Zalmen Mlotek playing Piano.

Courtesy of Traditional Crossroads (www.traditionalcrossroads.com).
Recorded: Kampo, New York, USA
ISBN: CD 4297
Accession Number: CD213
Singing is Adrienne Cooper accompanied by Zalmen Mlotek playing Piano.

Yid, du partizaner is courtesy of Traditional Crossroads (www.traditionalcrossroads.com).
Recorded: Kampo, New York, USA
ISBN: CD 4297
Singing is Adrienne Cooper accompanied by Zalmen Mlotek playing Piano.

Original Yiddish

Oyfn pripetshik brent a fayerl,
Un in shtub iz heys,
Un der rebe lernt kleyne kinderlekh,
Dem alef-beys.

Zet zhe kinderlekh, gedenkt zhe, tayere,
Vos ir lernt do;
Zogt zhe nokh a mol un take nokh a mol:
Komets-alef: o!

Lernt, kinder, mit groys kheyshek,
Azoy zog ikh aykh on;
Ver s’vet gikher fun aykh kenen ivre –
Der bakumt a fon.

Lernt, kinder, hot nit moyre,
Yeder onheyb iz shver;
Gliklekh der vos hot gelernt toyre,
Tsi darf der mentsh nokh mer?

Ir vet, kinder, elter vern,
Vet ir aleyn farshteyn,
Vifl in di oysyes lign trern,
Un vi fil geveyn

Az ir vet, kinder, dem goles shlepn,
Oysgemutshet zayn,
Zolt ir fun di oysyes koyekh shepn,
Kukt in zey arayn!

English Translation by Translation by Professor David Shneer, University of Colorado—Boulder, December 5, 2019

On the stove, a fire burns,
And in the house it is warm.
And the rabbi is teaching little children,
The alphabet.

See, children, remember, dear ones,
What you learn here;
Repeat and repeat yet again,
“Komets-alef: o!”

Learn, children, with great enthusiasm.
So I instruct you;
He among you who learns Hebrew pronunciation faster
He will receive a flag.

Learn children, don’t be afraid,
Every beginning is hard;
Lucky is the one has learned Torah,
What more does a person need?

When you grow older, children,
You will understand by yourselves,
How many tears lie in these letters,
And how much lament

When you, children, will bear the Exile,
And will be exhausted,
May you derive strength from these letters,
Look in at them!

'Heveti shalom aleykhem' (I bring you greetings of peace), also often titled in the plural, is one of the best-known and -loved Hebrew folk songs. In this rare recording it is sung by surviving Polish children in postwar France, in a recording taken by the Latvian-American psychologist David Boder in September 1946.

Benzion Moskovits

Cantore

In 1942 Cantor Benzion Moskovitsh (1907-1968) was deported to Westerbork and in 1944 to Buchenwald. There he sang for fellow prisoners and took notes of melodies he heard on a smuggled block-note.

Yehoshua Wieder

Cantore

Cantor Yehoshua Wieder and his family were deported to Auschwitz, where his wife Chana and three youngest children were killed. Wieder and his three other children survived.

Charles Lowy

Cantore

Cantor Charles Lowy (1911-1998) escaped Munich after Kristallnacht to Hungary and became chief cantor in Szolnok. From 1942 he was subjected to forced labour and liberated by the Red Army in 1945. His wife and son were killed in Auschwitz.

Henech Kon

Cantante
Attore

Il compositore Henech Kon (1890-1970) si trasferì a New York prima della seconda guerra mondiale, dove fu uno degli scrittori e artisti immigrati in fuga dal nazismo. Continuò a comporre brani per commemorare la distruzione dell'ebraismo polacco.

Yonas Turkov

Songwriter
Attore
Direttore

Jonas Turkow (1898-1987) was an actor, stage manager, director and writer. He received the Itzik Manger Prize for his contributions to Yiddish letters.

Diana Blumenfeld

Musicista
Cantante
Attore

Diana Blumenfeld (1903–1961) was a folksinger, pianist, and actress. Caught in the ghetto along with her husband, family and friends, she continued to sing, performing in cafes and in the ghetto theatre.

Martin Rosenberg

Direttore

In 1933, Rosebury D’Arguto’s activities with his Gesangsgemeinschaft was banned. On a return trip to Germany to settle some personal matters in September 1939, he was arrested by the Gestapo, and taken to Sachsenhausen where he organized a Jewish choir.

Kurt Gerron

Attore
Direttore

A cabaret artist, theatre and film actor and director of theatre and early sound movies, Kurt Gerron (1897-1944) was a successful entertainer of the 1920s and early 1930s. He directed the Terezin propaganda film and was killed soon after.

Wolfgang Langhoff

Attore
Direttore

Actor, director and leftist activist Wolfgang Langhoff (1901-1966) engaged in cultural activities in Börgemoor, organising the ‘Zirkus Konzentrazani’, as well as co-creating the song ‘Moorsoldatenlied’.

Testimoni di Geova

testimone di Geova

Erich Hugo Frost

Musicista
testimone di Geova

Composer and musician Erich Hugo Frost (1900-1987) was imprisoned several times in prisons and concentration camps between 1934 and 1945. He composed ‘Fest steht in großer, schwerer Zeit (Stand Fast in Great and Hard Times) in the spring of 1941.

Alfred Rosenberg

nazista

Alfred Rosenberg (1893-1946) scrisse nel 1934 Der Mythus des 20. Jahrhunderts (Il mito del XX secolo) nel 1934, che sosteneva la supremazia della razza "ariana" e la minaccia rappresentata dagli ebrei. Fu dichiarato colpevole di crimini contro l'umanità e giustiziato.

Hans Pfitzner

nazista
Compositore

Il compositore Hans Pfitzner (1869-1949) si considerava un difensore della nazione tedesca, dei suoi valori e della sua cultura contro una Francia "degenerata" e "corrotta". Durante il processo per denazificazione, insieme a Furtwängler, Egk e Strauss, fu dichiarato non colpevole.

Hans Joachim Moser

Musicologist
nazista

Hans Joachim Moser (1889-1967) incolpava l'America e gli ebrei per la commercializzazione della musica. Il suo impegno per la celebrazione della Germania gli valse l'approvazione del nazismo e la promozione a segretario generale del Ministero della Propaganda.

Bruno Walter

emigra

Nel 1898 Bruno Walter Schlesinger (1879-1962) era regista di teatro musicale e qualche anno dopo direttore dell'Opera di Stato bavarese. Inserito nella lista nera dei nazisti, nel 1938 partì per gli Stati Uniti dove diresse la Filarmonica di New York.

Kurt Weill

emigra
Compositore

Come pochi altri, Kurt Weill (1900-1950) e Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) sono sinonimo dell'innovazione culturale della Repubblica di Weimar. Con il loro Die Dreigroschenoper, il duo ha rappresentato tutto ciò che i nazisti dichiaravano nemico.

Arnold Schoenberg

emigra
Compositore

Il compositore Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951), insieme a Berg e Webern, è conosciuto come la Seconda Scuola Viennese. La sua rivoluzionaria tecnica musicale della dodecafonia (dodici toni) è stata la sua firma.

Viktor Ullmann

Insegnante di musica
Compositore
Direttore d'orchestra

Composer Viktor Ullmann (1898-1944) grew up and was educated in Vienna. He was trapped in Prague on the German invasion in March 1939 after trying unsuccessfully to find work in London or South Africa. In 1942 he was deported to Terezin.

Carlo Taube

Musicista
Compositore
Direttore d'orchestra

In December 1941, pianist, composer and conductor Carlo Sigmund Taube (1897-1944) was deported to Theresienstadt with his wife and child.

Rafael Schächter

Musicista
Compositore
Direttore d'orchestra

Rafael Schächter (1905-1944) made his name as an accompanist and vocal coach, working in opera and theatre before deportation to Terezin in Nov 1941. A pioneer of cultural life in the ghetto, he was deported to Auschwitz on 16 Oct 1944.

Karel Berman

Cantante

Bass singer Karel Berman (1919-1995) was deported to Terezin on 6 Mar 1943. He sang in operas and recitals and was cast as 'Death' in Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis. Transported to Auschwitz on 28 Sep 1944 and liberated from the Allach camp.

Marysia Ayznshtat

Cantante

Marysia Ayznshtat (1921-1942) è stata una delle figure musicali più amate del ghetto di Varsavia. Fu uccisa da un ufficiale delle SS all'età di ventuno anni.

Khayele Rozental

Cantante

Khayele Rozental (1924-1979) was one of the most popular singers in the Vilna ghetto. She established her talents in drama and singing aged 16, when she was chosen to represent Vilna at the Festival of Songs in Moscow.

Yankl Trupyanski

Songwriter
Insegnante di musica

Yankl Trupyanski was (1909-1944) a music teacher and composer of children's songs in Warsaw and Vilna. He composed many of the songs sung by children in the Yiddish schools of the inter-war years.

Zofia Czajkowska

Insegnante di musica
Musicista
Direttore d'orchestra

The Polish music teacher Zofia Czajkowska arrived in Auschwitz on 27 April 1942 on a transport from her home town of Tarnow. She was to become the original organiser and first conductor of the Birkenau women’s orchestra.

Hans Neumeyer

Insegnante di musica
Compositore

From the age of fourteen, Hans Neumeyer (1887-1944), a composer and teacher of musical composition, was completely blind. He died whilst interned in Theresienstadt on 19 May 1944.

James Simon

Compositore

In spring 1944, composer, pianist and musicologist James Simon (1880-1944) was sent to Westerbork. On April 4 he was deported with 1000 other inmates to Terezín. On 12 October 1944 he boarded the transport to Auschwitz.

Zikmund Schul

Compositore

The composer and violinist Zikmund Schul (1916-1944) and his father left Germany in October 1933, taking residence in Prague. He was transported to Terezín on 11 November 1941 where he continued to compose pieces, few of which survive.

Egon Ledeč

Musicista
Compositore

Egon Ledeč (1889-1944) was a Czech violinist and composer sent to Theresienstadt. He appears as the concertmaster in Karel Ančerl’s orchestra in the Nazi propaganda film of the camp.

Wladyslaw Szlengel

Poeta

Władysław Szlengel (1912-1943) was a Jewish-Polish poet, lyricist, journalist, and stage actor. He was shot along with his wife at the age of 28.

Avraham Sutzkever

Partigiano
Poeta

Avraham Sutzkever (1913-2010) is one of the most important contemporary Yiddish poets. During the war, Sutzkever was involved in many acts of resistance and helped save many important texts. He escaped to Moscow with his wife.

Leah Rudnitski

Partigiano
Poeta

Leah Rudnitski (1916-1943) wrote one of the most beautiful lullabies to have survived the Vilna ghetto, entitled ‘Dremlen feygl oyf di tsvaygn’ (Birds doze on the boughs). She was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Treblinka, where she was murdered.